Facing fellow welterweight scrapper Chris Cope, Brown chipped away with dirty boxing before staggering his opponent with a right hook to the ear that set up a second-round knockout victory.

The preliminary-card bout was part of UFC 143 and aired on FX following additional prelims on Facebook. It preceded a pay-per-view main card at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Events Center.

The first round proved evenly matched with “The Ultimate Fighter” veterans, though Brown appeared to take the lead with dirty boxing and some heavy right hands late in the round.

The damage finally became too much in the second round, when Brown landed a big right hand to the back of Cope’s ear. The equilibrium-altering blow left Cope staggered, and a quick left hook from Brown dropped him. Brown pounced with some hammerfists that prompted a stoppage before Cope even realized what happened.

The stoppage came at the 1:19 of the second round.

“I got away from who I am, and now I’m back,” Brown said. “I just wasn’t fighting. I was learning new things, but this isn’t the place to try them out. But enough with that.

“I’ve got a right hand to knock out anybody.”

Brown (13-11 MMA, 5-5 UFC) is now 2-1 since a career-worst three-fight skid. Cope (5-3 MMA, 1-2 ), meanwhile, has dropped two straight and faces an uncertain future with the UFC.

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